Love's Bounty
by Laurynn
Summary: The things that are gone are gone & the future is unsure. But the Bebop hasn't changed except for Spike's behavior when a bounty he killed mysteriously comes back to life...is this something to do with Julia?
1. Default Chapter

-

If you don't know who the chars are in CB- shame on you. Here's a quick intro.

Spike - green haired bounty hunter.

Jet- Spike's black haired partner with a weird eye and robotic arm

Faye - sexy eighty-year old year old, who lost her memory, was frozen when she was young, lives on Bebop, purple hair.

Ed - hacker GIRL with red hair from Earth

Ein - super genius dog, real name: Einstein. That's it.

Let me lay it down for you quick. This fic has no pre-designed plot meaning if I change my mind in the middle and something doesn't fit right with the beginning, you're gonna be really confused. I'll try and let you know if I change something drastically.

Laurynn doesn't own CB.

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Chapter One

It was hard to see, even by squinting. All that resounded in the alleyway was the dripping of an occasional leaking pipe. A cat knocking over a garbage can, the distant din of cars speeding past. But out of the dark could be seen, very faintly, a man peering out of the darkness, hardly distinguishable from the air around him. His head was sweating lightly, his body ready. His finger was on the trigger of the gun he held close to his chest.

Suddenly, the tap of damp footsteps made him sink back into the shadows. Another man appeared. He was striding down the alley and the other man's finger gripped the gun tighter. He couldn't make out his face through the dark, but from his quick steps and his heavy breath, he was sure it was the man he was waiting for. His lips curled into a smile. The man was passing his hiding spot and as soon as he had, he emerged, the cruel grin still on his face. He pointed the gun at his back.

"Don't move." His coarse voice demanded calmly. But his demand was quickly denied as the man whirled around, looking like someone had just made him so pissed off he was more than capable of murder. He was not backing down and away from the beast trying to corner him. He was hiding something behind his back, as far as the other man could see. His left hand let go whatever he was holding and reached into his pocket.

"Don't make me kill you. You're worth nothing to me dead."

"Oh, but you see" He said, cracking his face into his own evil smirk. His eyes became tiny and excited at the thought of seeing the man before him suffer. "You're worth a lot to me dead. People all over the system would pay for your head on a platter."

"You flatter me." He told the man, sarcastically. "But I'm afraid that won't be enough." His finger, that had been itching over the trigger for over an hour, jerked suddenly as though it could not wait another second and but the man did not fall. He did not grasp at the bullet somewhere deep in his leg. The object he had held behind his back became apparent as it was now in clear view behind him, just a black unmarked briefcase. He stepped up to him and stared into his eyes with the deepest loathing, each wanting to strike, to kill.

"And now, we finish this." He told the man. His finger itching again.

"This will never be over." Said the other man, with pure hatred in his voice just before he fell onto the soaking gravel.

-

"Can you get it open" Spike asked him, cleaning his gun, feet propped on the table.

"I don't know. The lock look's easy enough." He told Spike, examining the black briefcase. "Oh hey, turn it up. Big Shots is on and they'll be sure to mention us." Spike complied, since he was near enough. The opening notes of the show blared.

"Hi everyone" Said a woman dressed a smutty cowgirl.

"Here's the news for today" Said the man, copying her exited tone. They rambled on throughout new bounties, Spike and Jet keeping their eyes peeled for anything familiar.

"You know last week's bounties for Aika Hanaoka and Ruku Shima? We'll we're pleased to say that both were caught! Congratulations to the members of the Bebop for the capture of Shima and to Hartaro Nakamura for the capture of Hanaoka. Great job" A bell rang, signaling the end of the show. Spike threw his gun on the table and yawned as Jet continued to fiddle with the lock.

"Well, that's all for today"

"Adios Amigos"

"See you next" Spike flipped the off button and laid his head back. He didn't get as much peace as he'd hoped.

"Hey, I heard about your catch." Said a female voice from the door. Spike didn't open his eyes to see who it was.

"Is _that_ why you came back" Jet asked. She folded her arms and made an indignant noise.

"Hmph. If you must know, no, I came back because the races finished early today."

"And because you were hungry." Spike said out of the corner of his mouth. She made a noise again and walked into the hangar, her high-heeled white boots clicking as she went. After about a minute of silence, Jet spoke.

"It seems like the way it was."

"What"

"No arguing woman, no barking dog, no singing kid. It's quiet, like it used to be. Makes you wonder where we'd be, doesn't it"

"Not really."

"Not really? You mean to say, you like it better like this" Jet asked, incredulously. Spike still kept his eyes closed and replied. "I've seen the past. It's better just to leave it be." And they plunged back into silence until the barking dog and singing kid returned from wherever they'd been barking and singing previously.

-

It was a bright morning. And for once, there was maybe some money jangling around in the depths of his pocket. Or not.

He stepped off the Bebop's platform to see someone ahead of him, sitting on the canal's wall. She was smoking a long thin cigarette and her short violet hair was in her eyes. He took out his own cigarette and lit it as he walked beside her. For some reason the morning reminded him of a woman he used to know.

"One day I'm not coming back." He looked down upon her, not finding the wall to look inviting. He was tempted to roll his eyes, but he refrained. Faye usually went through indecisive times where she was overly dramatic and couldn't make up her mind, asking rhetorical questions to Ein and expecting an answer. She wasn't looking at him, but staring as the water, which was unusually choppy. She looked completely absorbed in it's frothing motion' and did not seem capable of tearing her eyes away.

"What is there to come back to" She continued desperately. He shifted his eyes to the current himself. She flung herself onto her back, arms completely limp, flailed out at strange angles, cigarette still smoking. She had her eyes closed, as though she were somehow liberating herself. He blinked and dropped the end of his own cigarette and stepped on it. He turned and took a step before considering her question.

"Nothing." He replied. "There is nothing." He began again but before he could reach the ship, he was headed off by Ed.

"Good Morning" Spike gave him a disbelieving smirk and did not reply with more than a nod.

"Ed has come to fetch you"

"For what"

"Lead! Lead! Lead! Lead" Ein barked from the ship's platform.

"Why didn't you tell Jet" He asked, following him.

"Jet said to get Spike" Said Ed, dancing around. They entered the main room where Jet was hunched over the computer. The TV was on again, talking about the newest meteor shower on Earth and how it was destroying the planet. Spike stood there, watching the TV waiting for Jet to reveal why he had called him. Jet turned.

"Where's Faye"

"Outside moaning about life."

"Sounds like her."

"Do you want me to get her"

"Nah, there's this hacker case I thought she like, but if she's on one of her freedom rants, I don't think - let's just leave her. But I wanted to show you" he told him handing him the laptop. "This." He pointed to a specific spot.

He read it to himself.

-

**Big Shot Online - Update Six**

Brought to you by the Ganymede Protection Agency

The break out of over three hundred dangerous criminals on the far side of Mars, has got everyone's attention. With them was the newest addition, Hajimo Fumihiko. Police think the break out might be linked to him. In his first week, he had caused three major fights, and two attempt breakouts, earning himself solitary confinement for almost six months. More information to come on the next Episode of Big Shots, which airs at 6:00 in the Central Galaxy Zone, Forty-eight. Adios Amigos.

-

Jet wasn't saying anything but Spike reassured him the moment he had finished the last word.

"I killed him."

"Are you sure"

"Am I sure? I shot a bullet through his heart."

"Well, maybe it's a different guy." Said Jet, trying to make light of the situation.

"And that's it" Spike asked, scrolling down the page to see if there was any more.

"There's no more information on the breakout except there was one." Jet supplied hurriedly, trying to make a bridge over the awkward silence. "Even bounty hunters, although lacking proper education, are still smart enough to know something is going on. We'll just have to watch tonight. But I..." Jet stopped. He wanted to say something but whatever it was, he didn't think it would go over well enough so he held his tongue.

"You think he broke out for the suitcase." Spike said for him.

"It's the most logical."

"Or to shoot me in the leg." He said, a bit of humor in his voice.

"Or to kill you" Said Ed piping in. There was an awkward silence broken only by a single echoing bark. He gave Ed another skeptical look.

"Well, he did say that it would never be over." Said Jet, using what Spike had told him to prove Ed's point as though he wanted it to be true.

"Have you guys been eating those mushrooms again"

"Ed hasn't" Screamed Ed, suddenly throwing up his arms and zooming around like a plane. Spike walked past Jet, and said"And you miss the old days"

-


	2. Chapter Two

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Something that I realized when I was writing this was that, I could actually hear some of the characters saying the lines. I can always imagine them doing what I want but sometimes it's hard to catch their spirits. Sometimes I read fics that people just make up and twist, like Spike being as go lucky as Ed. I can hear Faye's voice the loudest in this fic and I have no idea why. The only way to understand people's fics is to do that. You have to hear the voices. Lol, that sounds strange. But that's the secret, just some...I don't know..._insight_, I guess, so you can enjoy the fic.

Enough of my weird ways. Ho, to the fic, I say!

-

Chapter Two

Faye was back at the races by the same time the next morning, only returning when she had lost the usual amount of money and by that time Ed and Ein were curled up in some unimaginable position, snoring with mouths open, since the day had melted into night.

Even Jet was dozing. He had been surfing the net for any clues to help Faye with her newest hacker case, which of course, Spike had absolutely nothing to do with.

Spike hated hacker cases. He could be quoted on it whenever Faye asked him if he wanted to join in.

"Hackers are boring and chasing hackers is even more boring." Then he would yawn and fall asleep somewhere.

Spike was listening to his headset, which he had connected to the major frequencies, where all the large companies did their blackmail and scandals. Tonight the only company on the channel was Cherious Medical and the people on the walkie-talkies were just incessantly blabbering. He was trying to decode one of the messages when she came in. She was half-angry with them and half-frustrated. They had launched into space and left her at the races so Jet could search for her hacker but she said nothing about it, hoping, in fact, he would have something for her to go off of.

"Don't you all get tired of doing the same thing every night?"

"Don't you get tired of losing money every day?" Jet asked, jerking awake. He yawned and closed the laptop, which said, "See ya later!" In Ed's go lucky voice. Spike removed his headphones.

"Did you have any luck with the hacker?" She asked Jet who shook his head.

"His signal is currently coming from Callisto, but no one in their right minds would hack on Callisto, or live there for any matter. There's nothing there." Spike sat up.

"Not even a good place for a hideout?" She asked, landing next to Spike and leaning back dramatically.

"Nope. Not anymore. Population died out, really."

"Give me that." Said Spike, motioning towards the computer. Faye and Jet looked at him with some uncertainty, but Jet passed over the computer anyway, shooting Faye a sidelong glance of skepticism. He opened it and Ed's voice rang out again from the computer, "Ichi Ni San!" and he began typing away.

"I's him." He handed the computer over to Jet. "Look at the patterns. No one else would go to the trouble to post on Callisto. He's baiting us." Faye looked confused; her eyes were on Jet as though if she looked at him long enough that he would inform her of what was going on the minute Spike left the room. But Jet's eyes were focused on the screen where Spike was pointing. Faye had never seen Spike act this way. Usually when Spike was sure of a bounty's position or made a new discovery, he got more riled, or at the very least, anxious. He liked the fight. But she noted none of the usual apprehension on his face. It was more concerned. They stopped pointing. Spike leaned back against the couch, hand on his head. Jet's eyes were still whirring across the page.

"Let's have Ed look at it in the morning." Jet said, finally closing the computer.

"See ya later." Said the computer. Faye knew they were itching to talk so she got up, walked out, staying close by the door so she could listen. But neither of them spoke for a long time.

"Are you going after him?" Spike said nothing. "If you go, you should at least tell me so I'm not surprised when you don't come back." He seemed to be searching.

"Of course I'm going after him." Jet stood up.

"If that's-" But he stopped. "I'll be here, if you do decide to come back." And he walked off, towards the cockpit. Faye looked around the corner hesitantly. Spike was hunched over, his elbows resting on his knees.

He stood up and Faye went back around the corner and lit up. He came around the corner, expecting her to be there and he paid no attention, walking right past her, toward the hangar.

"Uh! You're leaving now?" She asked huffily. He stopped. He seemed undecided, as if whatever he was doing was the right thing, but some part of him wondered if he should just walk away, anyway. He kept walking.

"Don't get yourself killed." She warned him.

"You do care." He stated, paying her no more mind.

"Ha!" She laughed airily as he disappeared from view, but stopped almost instantly. She didn't know why she thought it, but the thought did happen to cross her mind that without Spike, the Bebop would be a very dull place.


	3. Chapter 3

I don't think I've ever belted out a fic like this. Not sure why it intrigues me so much, maybe cause I've never done any other CB fics, but I definitely like it. And I hope you do to.

Laurynn does not own Cowboy Bebop.

Chapter Three

Spike entered the cockpit of his Swordfish and pulled on his gloves. He touched the yolk. He was very fond of his ship. It was old and battered and if for some reason if it was damaged beyond repair, he wouldn't think twice about it. But while it was still his, he enjoyed its company as though it were a friend. He fired it up and launched toward the blank expanse. There was a call that popped up on his monitor and his eyes scanned the name. Faye. He didn't answer.

He was confused, his mindset back in a time when the syndicate meant something to him, when most things had meant something to him...friendship and loyalty, but it had all gone astray, wandered into some lonely corner and died along with his heart. The monitor continued to ring. He did not want to talk to Faye. She would only whine about him running away.

Faye was always floating around. Spike was sure she knew what it felt like to miss something you love...but she didn't show it.

Thinking about a time when it hurt to die, he turned his ship swiftly toward a place he used to live, wanting to see faces that knew him when he was in his prime, when he was carefree enough not to care, not to fall in love...

Love...

It was quiet on the street. He hadn't been there in a while. He'd forgotten the smoky air's scent, the taste of rust in his teeth...

He wove his way through doorways draped in beads. The shelves held pots and trinkets, making the walls seem closer than they were. There were assortments of wind chimes on the ceiling and lotus blossoms blooming all over the floor. The walls showing were matted with straw tatami. There was no rug to protect his shoes from the raw earth under him and the incense was making his brain swim. He made it through the last curtain of beads to find an ancient man sitting in front of him with sand running through his finger into mounds on the damp dirt. The old black and white dog next to him whined as he came in and sat across from him. For awhile the man said nothing.

"To the ways of old, you cannot go." He told Spike. Spike shifted his eyes. He already knew that. He didn't know what else he expected to hear. What advice would help him? Nothing meant anything to him anymore.

"The rose has wilted past and falls like a stone to death." He shifted again. Not exactly what he wanted to hear. Spike knew the man took his time before each word, choosing as though his very existence depended on it but he couldn't wait anymore. He had just stood up to go and had brushed the curtain of beads out of the way but he spoke again, calmer yet, eyes open for the first time since Spike's arrival.

"The days are lost. With only death will you find them. Do not stay here, Swimming Bird. Nothing will you gain from it." Spike stood there for an eternity, deciding on what exactly this had meant and then walked out from the place and back into the smoky alley.

"Spike not coming back?" Ed whined.

"I don't know, that's why you have to get Jet to tell you why Spike left okay?" Faye told her, in the hangar, under one of the older damaged ships in the corner. Ed looked nervous as if what she was doing was wrong. Faye didn't know where Jet was but soon found out as she watched Ed zooming away to find him, he had been in the ship, listening to her tell Ed to pump him for information.

"And it's his own goddamed business." He had told her, before stalking away. She eyes him angrily from behind.

If more than anything, he was looking for a familiar face, one did not seem to want to show itself. The man's words echoed in his head. "Do not stay here, Swimming Bird. Nothing will you gain from it."

Guessing that what the man said was true, that he wouldn't really gain anything by scraping around his past, he figured he shouldn't linger. He walked to the place he used to live. The place where _she_ had been with him for the last hour of her life. It was dark, hard to see. There were blood stains everywhere, bullets littered the floor and most of the furniture had be overturned or broken. Hands in his pockets, he let it soak into his being. He was turning to leave when he stepped on something that crunched beneath his shoe. He stepped back. It was a rose; a withered up lifeless piece of a memory Spike didn't want to remember. He contemplated stepping on it again, to crush any life maybe enduring somewhere in it to die a hopeless, painful death. He stared down at it for a long time.

Then he took a step over the rose. He didn't look back.

After watching Big Shots, Faye got bored enough to pump Jet about Spike herself. He was in the back trimming one of his new bonsai plants.

"Go away." He said as she appeared in the doorway.

"Now is that anyway to greet a friend." He shot her a look.

"I'm not telling you anything." He told her point-blank.

"Why?" She demanded. "What has he ever done for you?" He didn't answer.

"Faye Faye! Hacker, hacker, hacker!" Ed screamed running up and she abandoned him unwillingly.


	4. Chapter Four

Sorry I haven't updated I was on vacation.

LaurenD--

Chapter Four

Spike landed back on the ship three days later to a very discontented Faye tapping her foot like a worried mother.

"Where have you been?" She demanded as he got out. His clothes were dirty, his hair rumpled and he smelled like he hadn't had a decent shower. He barely glanced at her before he looked away and closed himself up in the bathroom. As soon as he was out of sight and Faye was sure he was out of the hangar, Faye jumped up into Spike's seat and looked at the gas meter.

"Empty." She said leaning forward and tapping her finger on it. She sat back and put her feet on the dashboard. "You know, you don't always have to come back just because you run out of gas. You could come back because you want to once in a while." She told the air in the ship. She thought maybe it would relay her message for her.

"Where did you go?" Jet asked. Spike didn't answer. He sat there staring at something. Jet knew better than to ask again. If Spike didn't answer the first time, he sure as hell wasn't going to answer the second time. Besides, it was none of Jet's business and Jet knew it. He stood, slightly thrown by his Spike's ignorance. Jet looked like he wanted to say something and he teetered on the edge of spilling the words out. But he refrained and walked away, leaving Spike to ponder alone.

After a while, Jet came back, with his hands on his hips. He didn't sit. He said nothing for a long time. The silence in the air was screaming to be broken.

"Half the time I'm not sure why you come back." Jet told him. Then he waited another long while.

"You have every right to stay away and yet you come back to the worst thing in your life, the part of your life you hate the most. A bossy woman, a loud kid and a dog that's smarter than you. This isn't your ship and your not living for yourself, so tell me god damn it! Why the hell you keep coming back?"

Spike said nothing. Jet looked away. When Spike spoke his voice was scratchy and dry as though he hadn't spoken in a while.

"When they first came you wanted them gone. You wanted it back the old way. Now I can see it in your eyes that they have become just as much of your life as the old way."

"What?" But Spike did not repeat himself and Jet did not expect him to. "You didn't answer my question." He told Spike, still refusing to look at him.

"You already know the answer." Spike stood and left.

Jet did know the answer. He had felt it the day he lost his own love, Elisa. The day he knew they would never be together. He knew how it felt to love someone and have that love not be able to be returned. He knew Spike had nothing to go back to. His former life - the syndicate, Vicious, Julia... it was destroyed now. The syndicate had become different, even since before Spike had left. Vicious had become different, a cold-blooded killer desperate for the love of a woman that had not chosen him. And Julia...had she become different too? Had she changed? Julia had tried to run away from it all. She tried to leave, only wanting to be off on some distant planet loving each other. And that was all Spike had wanted in life too...that was all anyone could hope to want from a man...

Jet was forced to look at himself - to reflect on his _own_ past life. Where had he been? Where had he desired to be now? Was he living like he pictured? Looking around, he knew this was not the ideal life he had envisioned. He had never dreamed of meeting Spike and deciding to become a bounty hunting team. Then again, when had he ever dreamed of leaving Elisa? Had he really planned to stay on Ganymede forever serving the ISSP his whole life? He shook his head. No. But maybe he wanted it to be different. Maybe he had imaged it to be slightly different one day. Loading a gun, drifting on some crater of a ship with a sarcastic woman and an immature kid was not his life. No, he had wanted to be in a green field somewhere far away from that, Elisa in his arms, grass brushing their skin...

Spike walked down the hallway faster then normal. His hands were clenched in tight fists, his left hand held Ed's laptop, in the crook of his arm, the man's briefcase and his right hand around his gun, ready to fire. He made it to his Swordfish without firing a shot and he found that it took a lot more self control then he'd originally thought. He got in without stopping. He didn't put on his seatbelt or even turn on his communicator screen. He got in, turned it on and took off. He was livid. He looked at the laptop. The hacker's code was _Darlution_. This, Spike had determined, was the place they would meet – if it was a place.

It took longer than he anticipated to get all the way to Callisto. He had his gun in his lap. He landed at a place he had only been once before.

He walked down the road, men jeering at his unknown face and stormed his way into the bar. He slammed his fist on the bar and the tender came over quickly.

"Is there something I can get for you?"

"Tell me where Darlution is." Spike demanded.

"Alley down off of 98th Terrace." Said the man, looking at him strangely. Spike turned and left the man standing there. He walked quickly down the roads that lead him there, the briefcase's handle wet with sweat and his gun sliding in and out of his grasp. He found 98th Terrace and walked slower along it, dodging in and out of the shadows. He saw a gap in the wall he was walking along. A small, spray-painted sign told him this was the place to be. As he turned down the alley, he saw that it was filled with people. Most, if not all of them were men, large tattooed men. They all sported guns, glinting in the dark. Their voices rumbled together to make a kind of ripple in the air's pattern... It was the black market up close. He saw the trade of guns and he could smell the spice of drugs plugging his nostrils... He moved through the crowd, unnoticed. His eyes were darting back and forth and behind him. The alley seemed never ending, just a long tunnel for trade of illegal items, not that Callisto needed a secret place for its black market since most of the I.S.S.P. rarely ever set foot there for fear of their own lives. Spike's green hair stood out in the dark crowd. He shouldered the wall again, sliding along it like a snake looking for its prey. Spike saw him. Against a far wall, hand in his jacket. Spike reached for his own gun but as soon as he did, the vast population of the crowd around him, did too. They were all ready for him in case Spike were to turn on them or ready for a bullet to go astray on their friend so they would be ready for attack but Spike didn't stop. He held the gun out and a path cleared of people for his bullet to shoot straight into the man. He took it, making sure it didn't hit the man directly in the heart so he would have time to explain about his deals. The man stood the pain a second time. Spike's gun lowered. The men around him went back to their deals, hands still on the triggers of their guns.

Spike walked to him and threw the briefcase at him which opened at it hit the wall. It was filled with paper, newspaper clippings and photographs.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Spike asked him, his voice raspy.

"I'm Vicious's most loyal friend." The man said loudly. Spike gritted his teeth together.

"Why? What did Vicious ever do for you?"

"He was _my_ most loyal friend."

"Vicious used you." Spike told him. "Vicious used you so he could get what he wanted. Vicious was never your friend."

"And you're saying he was once your friend?" Spike kicked the man hard in the ribs so that he flew back against the stone wall. Some of the men were watching now.

"Fumihiko, you know that you're worth a lot. I could turn you in and get a lot of money for your head and to see you safely behind bars. But you know something? I'd rather watch you burn." Spike took out a cigarette from his top pocket and lit it. He inhaled deeply and blew the smoke in the man's face. "I'd rather know you died screaming somewhere in a pit of hell. You killed _her_ because Vicious was murdered- because Vicious got he deserved and you didn't want _her_ to live if Vicious couldn't. Vicious had no friends." And Spike unloaded his gun into the man's head and chest. He didn't make sure he was dead this time but took the lighter and lit his clothes on fire. Spike stood back to watch. The photos were burning with him. They were all of her and Vicious. Spike tasted the blood in his mouth as he watched the man's flesh melt and froth. A grin flared across his face. An uneasy feeling settled itself inside his chest. He walked away, through the crowd of men, leaving the man to rot. He had avenged her - it was over. There wasn't purpose left in life.

Spike's footsteps returned. Their eyes met as Spike appeared in the doorway.

"The answer-" Spike looked away. "Doesn't seem like you."

"Nor you."

"But it holds truth." Jet told him.

"Incomprehensibility. Not truth. Love's bounty is high. No one can seem to capture it for long."

"Then I will never expect you back." Spike caught his eye again. "And, yes, I'll take care of Faye and Ed and Ein on the day you don't come back, even if I don't want to."

And he did.

It was raining. A rose in the rain washed next to a tombstone. It wanted to die for its beauty had gone and it had nothing left to live for.

The rain soaked his clothes to his skin. His hair was in his eyes as was the rain's clear drops. Just below where he stood, someone on the sidewalk thirty feet below could make out the tips of his shoes protruding over the edge. He saw the ruby rose through the gray world so far below. He held his arms out, his body protesting the liberation.

And he felt it, the wind in his face, closing his eyes, he saw the face of the woman he once loved who reminded him of the morning air...


End file.
